Metal carbides can be made from a metal source and a carbon source, via pyrolysis, using a number of sources of metal and carbon, respectively. Some prior art references which relate to the present invention include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,749 to H. Wedemeyer teaches the formation of monocarbides of metals by forming a mixture of carbon with an oxalate of the metal and then decomposing the metal oxalate in the presence of the external source of carbon in a stream of hydrogen.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 54/107,500 also teaches the use of a source of extraneous carbon with an organic titanic ester in order to form titanium carbide fine powder ceramics.
M. A. Janney in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,215 proposed that titanium carbide powder could be formed from a carbon precursor polymer and an organotitanate as reagents. The titanium moieties in the resulting product are deemed to be substituents to the polymer chain(s) carrying the carbon moieties in the reaction product which is then converted into the desired ceramic after pyrolysis. The patent mentions that a gel is formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,762 forms carbides by reacting metal-containing compounds with a reactive hydrocarbon-containing compound, which is polymerizable and which contains a carbon-hydroxy bond. J. D. Birchall et al., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,861,735 and 4,950,626 also describes the production of ceramic materials by reacting a compound containing a metallic or non-metallic element having at least two groups that are hydroxy-reactive with an organic compound containing at least two hydroxy groups. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,735 it is stated in the first Example that the carbide precursor is formed as a waxy solid.